Torn Apart By The Crowd
by Aesclepius
Summary: There's a new boy at the Tendo Dojo, and Ranma doesn't like him. At all. Unfortunately for Ranma, Akane does. And in the meantime, Soun thinks that the new boy will make a fine fiance for Akane...so Ranma's getting worried...
1. Torn Apart By The Crowd

Torn Apart By The Crowd - Insecurity  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 in any way, but this story is completely copyright to ME ME ME ME ME!! (ME!)  
  
Author's note: My THRID fanfic...I hope it gets a LOT OF reviews...*crosses fingers*...unlike my other 2....*GO READ THEMMMMM* Dear anybody who reads this fanfic, I'm so sorry if there are any spelling errors in this, but note that it isn't because I CAN'T spell, but because of typo's.  
  
Chapter I - Torn Apart By The Crowd --  
  
Akane stared moodily at Ranma standing engulfed in the swarm of giggly, or in Kodachi's case, cackling girls. That flirt, she thought furiously, that evil jerk, jerk, JERK! Sure, here she was, his FIANCEE for God's sake, standing across the road, and there he was, shamelessly untangling himself from Shampoo's loving arms.  
  
Akane kicked a pebble down the lane, and it hit a small squirrel, which squeaked at her reproachfully.  
  
"Sorry...I'm just mad I guess," she whispered softly. It was so soft, Akane could just barely hear the words herself, but nevertheless, the squirrel seemed to understand, and it scurried away. "That's right, desert me!" called out Akane after it. "I'm all alone, there's no one home, beside me...." Akane was singing, still softly. Across the road Ranma was greedily gobbling pizzas with an apologetic look on his face.  
  
Akane sat down on the curb, flashing Ranma a scornfully bored look, although it was anything but what she was feeling inside. Inside, her mind and heart were engaged in a lively battle, and her mind seemed to be losing. Why should I feel mad, anyway? reasoned Akane. I hate Ranma, and it's not like I chose him to be my fiancée...did I? Akane doubtfully remembered an old fable, one that said everyone on this earth had a soul mate...and that when you were in the Heavens you chose your soulmate....  
  
Angrily, Akane shook her head. She was so NOT going to marry Ranma - she glanced at Ranma, who was now feasting on cookies-...NO. She'd just have to wait for her own beloved Prince Charming to come along, and then Ranma could marry Nabiki or someone.  
  
But then why was she feeling so jealous?  
  
Akane wasn't sure how to deal with this frustration, and as tears filled her eyes, so did the vexation. I'm so STUPID! She cried out in her mind. I can't believe I like such a worthless brat!!!  
  
"Excuse me?" There was a light tap on her shoulders. Through her tears, Akane could faintly make out an outline of a concerned face.  
  
"Yes?" Akane asked feeling confused. Hastily, she wiped away her tears.  
  
"Is...everything....alright?"  
  
With her vision now back, Akane could see the handsome, concerned face blinking anxiously at her. Her breath caught for a moment. Wow. Akane took a quick peek to the other side of the road, to see if Ranma was watching. He was.  
  
"No - no! I'm quite alright!" Akane stumbled up to her feet. The handsome unknown helped her up, and tiny shivers went down her spine. "Tha-thank you..."  
  
"No prob," he grinned.  
  
--  
  
Ranma stared at all the goodies being showered upon him. Kodachi laughed beside him, Ukyo stood threateningly in front of him, and Shampoo looked like she was about to pour all the hot ramen down his back. Ranma felt like he'd been pushed into a corner, once again.  
  
He took a quick, rather frightened look at Akane, who was standing across the road, but all she returned was a very black look. Suddenly Ranma felt annoyed. Why was Akane always like that? Why couldn't she just be nice to him for once? Was it so hard? Well, let her wait! He thought angrily. She can just darn wait, while I have a good time with people who do appreciate me!  
  
Whatever happened, he was NOT going to marry Akane. So why was he so bothered about what she thought?  
  
Ranma growled mentally, and in his frustration, grabbed a cookie and crammed it into his mouth. Somewhere outside of his thoughts, Kodachi was simpering idiotically. Ranma took another quick look at Akane, and was slightly surprised to see her sitting dejectedly upon the sidewalk, slumped over.  
  
And then...it happened.  
  
A brazen boy actually walked up to Akane, and even though Ranma couldn't hear the exchange, he watched it, with a greater feeling of rage coming over him. That flirt, Akane! he thought, completely ignoring the fluttering all around him.  
  
He watched, as the unknown person helped Akane slowly to her feet, and he could almost hear Akane's heartbeat, or so he imagined.  
  
--  
  
Akane watched the handsome unknown disappear, and whispered to herself, "Out of sight, and out of mind. I'll probably never see him again." And in heart of hearts, she knew she wouldn't. So maybe it wasn't love at first sight. After all, the Prince and Princess would always stay together. Akane thought about that for a moment. Ranma had actually almost always been there for her, and she'd most certainly been there for him. Maybe that was what it was always about...not how it happens, but what happens afterwards. I shouldn't be too hard on Ranma, she thought. Ranma has to be who he is!  
  
She smiled ruefully.  
  
"OI! Ranma! It's time to go home! Kasumi's cooked Octopus balls for us, remember?!"  
  
--  
  
Ranma watched rather jealously as the boy passed out of view. "Hmpf. Out of sight, and out of mind." he grunted. He watched Akane's face light up as if she'd just discovered something. "Maybe she thinks she's in love..." whispered Ranma, with a hollow feeling in his stomach.  
  
But as he thought over, he realized that Akane wasn't as shallow as he'd just accused her of being. She'd always helped him, and always been there for him. Her bark was worse than her bite, after all. He remembered all the insane competitions Akane had been forced to do to prove her 'love' for Ranma, or to win his hand back in marriage. She could have always said no, and then Ranma would've been stuck with an even more insane girl. "Damn, I really owe her..." muttered Ranma.  
  
Then he heard Akane. "Ranma! Time to go home! Kasumi's cooked fried baked beans for us, remember?"  
  
Damn straight. He loved Kasumi's Octopus balls. "COMING!" he yelled back.  
  
--  
  
It was strange. Strange that in about fifteen minutes, two people in this vast universe had gone through a sea of feelings and a number of revelations.  
  
That's life, some say. Some people dig further. Some people put words to these feelings. Some people just watch. Some never forget.  
  
Encounters and tears, things revealed and things justified, feelings and actions.  
  
Yep - it all happened on a dusty afternoon, after school.  
  
--  
  
Author's note : I just finished it! Please tell me if you all liked it, please, please! Also, I was wondering if I should continue it...and make the hansome unknown come back and annoy Ranma a bit. It was originally meant to be a one-shot. R&R and please tell me what you think I should do!  
  
-----UPDATED : Due to some reviews I got, I think I will continue, so thanks you guys! 


	2. BurraGurra and Whatever

Discalimer: It's on the first chapter. LOL!  
  
Author's Note: Ok, I've made Chapter 2. Once again, please excuse typo's, lameness and anything else you find annoying/bad/irritating...blah de blah! I present to you all my idiocracy...(spelling?) ...lunacy and stupidity. I have a lot of it. I confess, this story has a BASIC plot, but no intricate plot. I've also just been reading Douglas Adams "The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" and if you have read it then you will know why my story has taken such a stupid turn. D Enjoy!  
  
C h a p t e r II - Burra-Gurra and Whatever!  
  
The Tendo Dojo was silent. Autumn leaves swirled across the garden, which was strange...simply because...it wasn't autumn. It was mid-summer, but the sky looked suspiciously grey and cloudy. Maybe it would snow? The tiny Cuckraku, the official but insane weather watcher sat on top of his roof, talking to himself. He was a weather ninja, a ninja who specialized in watching the weather, talking about the weather and basically doing anything related to weather.  
  
There were many innocent civilian's who would unknowingly meet the Cuckraku, and remark politely, "Fine weather, isn't it?" They would then be forced to drink cup after cup of green tea, listening to theses on sunny weather, snowy weather, weather in New York and all sorts of delicious, torturous weather.  
  
But the Cuckraku had nothing to do with the silence of the Tendo Dojo. Kasumi was out shopping for fresh beans to cook, while Akane and Ranma were currently on their way home from school. Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome were playing Chinese checkers with a seventy year old Grand Master downtown, and were, unfortunately losing. (They were on their 72nd game, won 0, lost 72.) Nabiki's whereabouts' were a mystery. Happosai was out collecting more under garments for his collection of lingerie.  
  
Curtains flapped in the breeze, pretty curtains with floral print. Sasuke stopped in his journey towards the Dojo entrance to admire them. Although Kuno and Kodachi didn't know this, Sasuke was a ninja suffering from curtophobia, a suffering in which the person has an incurable attraction towards curtains. In his younger ninja days, or so it is recorded in Sasuke's secret diary, Sasuke was punished for stealing all the Sensei's curtains and hiding them in his secret cubby hole, which wasn't really secret because the whole Dojo knew about it, but it WAS secret to Sasuke because Sasuke didn't know that the whole Dojo knew about it.  
  
Sasuke turned his back on the flirtatious curtain, and sighed. He began to creep towards the Tendo Dojo again. He was on a mission.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
"Who was that boy, Ranma?" Akane asked Ranma, asked they walked home from an eventful 15 minutes after school. In those 15 minutes, Akane had cried, injured a little squirrel, and met a handsome stranger. Ranma, likewise, had eaten seven pizza's, home cooked by Ukyo, twenty-five cookies, home baked by Kodachi, and he had somehow neglected the hot ramen home boiled by Shampoo, who was currently on her way after Ranma, to pour it down his back. Ranma, of course, had no idea of her insane plan.  
  
"Beats me," yawned Ranma, precariously balancing on the railing by the Tokyo sewer, as per usual. "Why do you care, anyway? There's NO way he'd fall for you...you are waaay too uncute!" Ranma physically and mentally braced himself for the onslaught he would now get from Akane.  
  
"Well, at least I'm not as girly as you!" Akane flashed at Ranma. She knew this would cut deep, and sure enough, it did. Ranma hated the fact that when cold water was poured upon him, he turned into a girl. It was humiliating to his manhood, his martial arts and all he stood for.  
  
"Just WHO," cried Ranma, swerving angrily on the railing. "Are you calling girly?"  
  
An old lady poured a pail of cold water to clean the dusty road in front of her house. This old lady was the bane and pain of Ranma's life. She always poured cold water on his plans. Ranma stood there, shivering in clothes 4 sizes too big for him, and squealing in a voice much higher pitched than it had been two minutes ago.  
  
Akane giggled at his rage, and produced a kettle. It was known as "The Emergency Jusenkyo Victim's Kettle Rehab. Therapy, or, Carry A Kettle To Cure The Cold Water Ailment", and the point of it was to carry an emergency kettle of boiling hot water to return the poor cold-wateree to original form, be he man or in Ryoga's case, pig. "You," Akane said, pouring the contents of the kettle over Ranma. "You are girly...or were."  
  
"Stupid old ghoul," muttered Ranma at the old lady, who blinked at him, confused at the change which had taken place in less than two minutes. She rubbed her eyes, wondering how the boy became a girl and then became a boy, again! She slowly returned to her house. In fifteen minutes time, she would set of for the Psychiatrist's, to have her head examined, but once again, Ranma wasn't to know that.  
  
Tomorrow, the old lady would undergo a brain surgery, and come out of it with a telepathic mind, but yet AGAIN, Ranma's wasn't supposed to know that. Well, no one knew if he was supposed to know that, they just knew he didn't.  
  
"Hurry up, Ranma," called Akane. "Kasumi's dee-licious lunch would be stone- cold by now!"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------  
  
Sasuke crawled into the Tendo home, and made straight for the kitchen. Master Kuno had instructed him, and he always followed Master Kuno's instructions, to pour the magical contents of the Burra-Gurra bottle into every dish of food he saw in Ranma's home.  
  
The Burra-Gurra bottle contained some dangerously damgerous Burra-Gurra powder, which, when taken internally, caused the taker to fall in love with the first person of the same sex he or she laid his eyes upon. It was this fate which Kuno had diabolically planned for Ranma. By putting the powder into every dish, obviously, Kuno would affect a lot of other people as well, including Akane, but Akane would not eat the dishes due to the birthday of her best friend's cousin's grandfather, for she would attend his birthday party in precisely half an hour, when a hurried telephone call would force poor Akane out of the house, and leave Ranma to eat all the food up himself.  
  
Shampoo, who had been industriously chasing after Ranma, had taken a fall on the road, and was busy pouring the hot ramen reserved for Ranma over Mousse instead, who had caused her to fall.  
  
Sasuke poured tiny amounts of the powder into both the dishes of Octopus balls, desperately wanting to taste some Octopus balls a la Kasumi for himself, but not daring to. It was too risky. What, and Sasuke shuddered at the thought, if he fell in love with that awful Ranma Saotome? Or worse, that disgusting Ryoga Hibiki?  
  
Sasuke took out the carefully scrawled note from his cap, and gently placed it under the Octopus balls. Ranma would no doubt see it when he finished his delicious lunch. LUNCH! Sasuke sadly remembered how the garden slugs always served for his lunch. Not that it was unusual...after all, this was Japan, and food, glorious food, was at the peak of it's diversity. Why, hadn't Sasuke seen Kuno's next-door neighbor, Mr. Miyaki eat snails in the corner of his garden? But that was probably because Mrs. Miyaki shut him out of the house again, poor fellow. Sasuke sighed a sad sigh for Mr. Miyaki.  
  
Suddenly, Sasuke's sharp ninja ears detected voices outside. It was time to go. As Sasuke sped to the back door, a strange thought entered his head. "To infinity, and beyond!" Sasuke wondered what that meant, and he determined to ask the garden toad for his opinion.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------  
  
Ranma eyed the huge plate of Octopus balls upon the table. This lot wasn't going to last very long. "Hurry up, Akane! I might just finish the Octopus balls by myself!" called Ranma, for Akane was glued by the ear to the phone, and Ranma definitely didn't like the look of glee upon her face as she put down the phone at last.  
  
"Be my guest," she said to him.  
  
He fainted.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------  
  
When Ranma woke up from his faint, precisely 17 minutes later, Akane was gone. A note, however, was left by his plate. Ranma picked up the note with trembling fingers. Akane had once again shocked him, by actually REFUSING Kasumi's fine, rare lunch. It was unheard of, it was preposterous.  
  
"Dear Ranma [the note read], It is Ayumi's grandfather's birthday. He likes Orange Green Tea, and since Kasumi is the only one in Tokyo who actually makes Orange Green Tea, I am the guest of honour. Isn't that cool? It proves I am more attractive than you, anyway. You probably don't know who Ayumi is - I don't know myself. All I know is that she likes eating snow cones on the beach, and that she is Misora's cousin. Misora, in case you REALLY didn't know, is my best friend. It shows how much interest you take in you fiancée! But, I'm not going to marry you. ARGH, you make me so mad, Ranma. I hate you. B the way, put the kettle to boil, my emergency kettle is out of hot water."  
  
Ranma read this note with mixed feelings. His first thought was, "I like Orange Green Tea!" and his second, "I'm better built than you, Akane! TO BOOT!" and the third and fourth were "You're not my fiancée by choice!" and "Mua hahahahaha! I have the Octopus balls all to myself!" respectively.  
  
So Ranma put aside his feelings in the China cabinet for a while, and began devouring his lunch. There was a ...strange taste about the dish...which Ranma couldn't quite put his finger on. In the end, he decided he was still thirsting for the Orange Green Tea, and swallowed his lunch in less than 4.5 bites. Ranma sighed. Sure, an old granddaddy's birthday party was more important than lunch with him...Ranma Saotome, for Akane. She would surely regret this someday.  
  
And what was all that crap about her being his fiancée? And she hated him? Ranma felt kinda depressed. He picked his plate, and went to put it in the sink. That was when he noticed the note fluttering down from the table. Ranma slowly picked it up. Not another weird note?  
  
"Hah, Ranma [the note read], With 3002 years of Chinese history, the Burra-Gurra Powder has unusual powers, which causes the eater to fall in love with someone of the same sex. The very first person you lay your eyes on. Finally, Akane will be free to date with me...  
  
'The innocent flower of the night, Shall date with those of greater might... I, Tatewaki Kuno, accept your wish to date with me, my dearest Akane!'  
  
--Kuno.  
  
P.S. Greetings to the pigtailed-girl! I shall date with you day after tomorrow!"  
  
Ranma glared at the note with annoyance. Unknown to Ranma, Kuno was at the moment drinking Orange Green Tea at his second cousins' house, but perhaps it was lucky Ranma didn't know that. Ranma was now definitely confused, because he didn't know what the hell Kuno was talking about. Ranma didn't even know Kuno was aware of a land called China - he'd always thought the only places Kuno knew about were Japan and The Land Where Kuno Ruled And Dated [Almost] All.  
  
At that moment of frustration in Ranma's life, the doorbell rang. Ranma dropped the note and ran to the door. If it was Kuno, he'd smack him. If it were Ryoga, he'd kick him. If it was anybody else...  
  
Ranma pulled open the door. "What d'ya wa-!"  
  
The handsome boy from after school stood there. "Excuse me," he asked politely. "Is this the Tendo Dojo?"  
  
Ranma gazed at him.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------  
  
Author's note: Kill me for writing such a foolish epistle. I dunno what got into me! Anyway, R&R, and LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER! Surely you peeps can guess what happens next? That evil Tatewaki Kuno....I'm such a moron. Sorry...this chapter was REALLY weird...forgive me. 


	3. Fallen

Author's Note: Ya gotta take thr good reviews with the bad, I guess. It's only a little bit of fun, you people! Don't absolutely kill me! If you can't take a joke, then don't waste your energy typing out the alphabets in a review that's just going to hurt me, ok?  
  
C h a p t e r III - Fallen  
  
Ranma stared at the handsome, unknown boy. When you're standing on top of a 5000-foot high cliff, and are about to fall down, you have a lot of time to think as you fall. This is precisely what happened to Ranma as he fell in love. Most people don't fall in love, because of the broken bones you get afterwards, but Ranma had no choice.  
  
As he was falling, Ranma was very busy thinking, and cursing Kuno. 'Damn that Kuno! He put some Burra-Gurra Powder in my food! Nooo...I refuse to fall in love..." he was thinking, when he realized how very far he had to fall. "Who is this guy anyway? Poor Akane. The ol' geezer will be so disappointed in me. What kind of martial arts move is falling in love anyway? I'm only just in high school! And what about the Tendo Dojo? ARGH. I feel sleepy."  
  
Ranma stood there, having reached the bottom. He felt slightly sick, and he couldn't do anything about it because he was lovesick.  
  
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Akane skipped happily to her house, wearing the pretty new purple and yellow dress she'd bought. She'd lost her way to Ayumi's house, so she had decided to buy a new dress at the shops. It was something to show Ranma anyway. She had decided to wear it home.  
  
Akane hummed a little tune as she turned the corner.  
  
She stopped dead, when she saw Ranma swaying in the doorway, with the handsome boy whom Akane had never expected to see again standing watching Ranma with a slightly worried expression.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------  
  
Ranma felt dizzy. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Akane. Akane? AKANE! He turned to face Akane miserably, not wanting to tell her how he had failed her. Actually, Ranma was more worried over the fate of the Anything- Goes Martial Arts School, but hell, since Akane had reached the house first... He stopped short.  
  
Akane was wearing a purple and yellow polka dotted dress. It looked horrible. Disgustingly horrible.  
  
Ranma spun round, and ran into the house. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------  
  
Akane watched in horror as Ranma stared at her with a look of disgust growing on his face. What was wrong? She stared down at her dress. It was pretty, and there were no food stains on it. No, it couldn't be her dress. She twisted and looked behind her. No, there was nothing there either. So what was it that was disgusting Ranma so much?  
  
Akane, unfortunately, didn't have much more time to think, for Ranma chose that moment to dash into the house. Akane spared a glance for the poor, baffled boy on the doorstep, and ran in after Ranma. "Excuse me! Is this the...Tendo Dojo?" the boy called after her.  
  
"Yeah! It is!" Akane called back, thundering up the stairs after Ranma.  
  
Akane watched as Ranma bounded into the bathroom, and she could soon hear gurgling noises. A few minutes later, Ranma walked out, bright and smiling. Akane walked over to him.  
  
"What's the matter with you?" she exclaimed, staring at him anxiously, with just a hint of her true feelings.  
  
Ranma smiled seraphically back at her. "I got all the food out of my system. Including the Burra-Gurra Powder. Thanks to your dress!"  
  
Akane gazed at him, feeling confused. "My dress? What about it? Isn't it nice?"  
  
Ranma chuckled, and wasting few words, he told her what Kuno had done. Akane gasped. "That's horrible!" she cried, through clenched teeth. "And who the hell wanted to date with that moron anyway?"  
  
Ranma sniggered. "Well, anyway, I was just falling in love with that boy, downstairs, when you came along. Your dress-" Ranma chortled a bit- "was so...DISGUSTINGLY HORRIBLE, that I just had to hurl. I got the Burra-Gurra Powder out of me, so I'm A-OK now! All thanks to you and your dress! Aw, don't worry, I was only kiddin-"  
  
Akane punched Ranma's smiling face, and went downstairs to attend to the boy.  
  
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Author's Note: Um..well...that's it for Chapter 3...d'ya guys still think it's horrible? . Coz I didn't mean it to be so horrible. I just...lost control of my pen..l.*metaphorically speaking*. Please tell me it's not horrible! After reading the comment by "Ranma Should be straight" I did my best to improve it...  
  
Puh-leeze... 


	4. Freeloaders Aren't Jealous

Author's Note:  
  
---------------------------------  
  
C h a p t e r IV - Freeloaders Aren't Jealous  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Akane tossed and turned in her bed. Godammit, why was it so hard to get to sleep? She considered getting a glass of milk, but she soon decided against it. She had had a horrible day, and she needed to think. Perhaps THAT was why she couldn't sleep.  
  
She thought about she'd almost...ALMOST cried over Ranma after school, and how he'd hurt her by throwing up at her new dress which - and Akane would never admit this to herself - she had bought mainly to impress Ranma.  
  
But there was also him.  
  
Akane felt that she was making that pronoun very sweet by calling him simply 'him'. But then, he too, had been sweet to her.  
  
She had first met him after school, in that bout of weakness for Ranma, and he had by coincedence turned up at the Tendo Dojo afterwards.  
  
He had wanted lessons. Lessons! Akane rolled over in glee. The Tendo Dojo hadn't had a student ever since she was born. Her sisters had no interest in martial arts whatsoever, and Akane was the only Tendo who had actually used the Dojo, unless you counted Kasumi's large teaparties which often took place there.  
  
Akane frowned. She was getting off the subject. Her thoughts fluttered back to 'him'. He was kind, and gentle, and Akane could barely believe that he of all people needed martial arts lessons. He looked like a fairy-tale hero, and Akane half expected him to be one.  
  
Akane yawned. Tomorrow...  
  
Tomorrow she would get to know Hiro better.  
  
She sleepily punched her pillow, while catching a fleeting vision of Ranma in her mind.  
  
Ranma stared straight ahead at the ceiling. It looked so blank. Genma peacefully snored in panda-form beside him, and Ranma scowled. "Shut it, old man," he muttered.  
  
Ranma recalled angrily that Akane had lavished exuberant affections upon Hiro, who joined the Dojo today. Genma and Soun were all up for the money- making side of the deal, and Kasumi thought him a charming young man. Happosai was of the opinion that Hiro could be horny when he felt like it, and Nabiki didn't care either way.  
  
Ranma clenched and unclenched his fists. Why was he angry, anyway? He didn't like that uncute girl anyway. He had others, like Shampoo and Uuchan and Kodachi.he sat up straight and gasped. What was he thinking?  
  
He glanced around him uneasily, and wondered if this was another one of the freaky things that happened in his life. Maybe Happosai had cast another spell? Perhaps Shampoo and her hapless Chinese spells had something to do with this? Ranam sighed. Those stupid, 3000-year-old Chinese spells were so dilapidated and old, they didn't work half the time.  
  
Ranma sighed yet again, and lay back down. Things were way too confusing at the moment. Maybe he'd know better after a good breakfast. 


End file.
